New jackson caretaker checking in.

Aloha. Just bought my daughter a jackson chameleon. Knew nothing about them, had it in a 10g tank for a few days. Read a lot about them and now have it in a 2x2x4 ft cage and a LED aquarium light for now. Waiting on lamp system from LYR, ordered a dual HO T5 lamp 6% & 6.5k and a Arcadia 5.5 dome. Wasn't expecting to spend as much as I did, should've read about them before diving right in.

I have my cage set up next to my 75g tank with a NGT datnoid and a few angle fish. Shouldn't pose a problem I suspect.

Here are some pics.




Just made this diy dripper from a poke bowl and a air valve I had laying around. Siliconed the skewer to lay across the frame in top corner so the screen don't sag.

Welcome to the forums! Your Jax is adorable... but then, ALL Jax are adorable!

There are some great caresheets here if you haven't seen them already, full of excellent and reliable information:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/jacksons/

You will love the LYR fixture when it comes in. I upgraded awhile back and was amazed at the light quality. Unfortunately (haha), it is very easy to spend a lot of money on your cham They are definitely not cheap pets, but they have so much personality, it's totally worth it. If you want to invest in one more thing in the future, I strongly recommend getting the MistKing and a good drainage system. Jacksons like a lot of water, and it takes much of the stress off their care when you have an automated watering system. You can set it up to mist or get the rain dome and make drips. The MK is absolutely worth the money, IMO. Plus, get a good timer for your lights.

What's your little guys name?

Thank you Lathis. I put the light on today. I think I won't be needing the basking light. It is so hot n humid here in Hawaii which got me thinking on the misting. I do mist with spray bottle in the morning and once again in the afternoon and I've read that misting keeps the humidity up but since I live in a high humidity place would it really be necessary? I do run the dripper all day and pull it off when lights go out. I haven't named it, it is my daughters puppy. We can't have dogs here where we live so I got her this instead, so in a way it's her puppy.

If your ambient humidity inside is at least 50%, you probably don't need the mister. If you are running the AC, I would keep the twice a day schedule. He probably loves having the dripper all day.

You might give him the opportunity for a basking light for a few hours, maybe in the morning before it gets to hot. It doesn't need to be any hotter than 83-85*F. Do you have a screened-in porch or balcony? I'll bet he would love some time out there

Humidity is 87% right now 4:30am We don't run AC so ambient temp should be perfect for it without misting. Although I'll still mist twice a day since it is live plants in there and they need watering. Temps is 88°. I was thinking of doing something outside in our garden but then the way it's situated it only gets direct sunlight from 8am to 12noon.

prskiller said:

Humidity is 87% right now 4:30am We don't run AC so ambient temp should be perfect for it without misting. Although I'll still mist twice a day since it is live plants in there and they need watering. Temps is 88°. I was thinking of doing something outside in our garden but then the way it's situated it only gets direct sunlight from 8am to 12noon.

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The garden sounds great actually. Morning sun before it gets too hot. Even indirect sun had a significant amount of UV. I'm a big believer in natural sunshine when possible. It has such a complex, positive effect on the brain.

Lathis said:

The garden sounds great actually. Morning sun before it gets too hot. Even indirect sun had a significant amount of UV. I'm a big believer in natural sunshine when possible. It has such a complex, positive effect on the brain.

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Very true, for all living things

prskiller said:

Aloha. Just bought my daughter a jackson chameleon. Knew nothing about them, had it in a 10g tank for a few days. Read a lot about them and now have it in a 2x2x4 ft cage and a LED aquarium light for now. Waiting on lamp system from LYR, ordered a dual HO T5 lamp 6% & 6.5k and a Arcadia 5.5 dome. Wasn't expecting to spend as much as I did, should've read about them before diving right in.

I have my cage set up next to my 75g tank with a NGT datnoid and a few angle fish. Shouldn't pose a problem I suspect.

Here are some pics.

Just made this diy dripper from a poke bowl and a air valve I had laying around. Siliconed the skewer to lay across the frame in top corner so the screen don't sag.

Click to expand...

I don´t see if you have uvb light but you are going to need to buy obe as soon as possible if you dont have one already, also you need lot and lots and lots of more plants in there, your jackson seems smal stressed.

watch this it should get you cover.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKTbUaOQ0aA&index=1&list=PL4HFX9PBYVY2eIWT0v3ZgYSk-r76SEujI

you need too to variet your feeders and gutload them.

read her blogs they have some good stuff in them

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKTbUaOQ0aA&index=1&list=PL4HFX9PBYVY2eIWT0v3ZgYSk-r76SEujI

leedragon said:

I don´t see if you have uvb light but you are going to need to buy obe as soon as possible if you dont have one already, also you need lot and lots and lots of more plants in there, your jackson seems smal stressed.

watch this it should get you cover.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKTbUaOQ0aA&index=1&list=PL4HFX9PBYVY2eIWT0v3ZgYSk-r76SEujI

you need too to variet your feeders and gutload them.

read her blogs they have some good stuff in them

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKTbUaOQ0aA&index=1&list=PL4HFX9PBYVY2eIWT0v3ZgYSk-r76SEujI

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I put the uvb lighting in yesterday after pics were taken. I'm still working on the plants. I watched the video a few days ago, really good info for sure. I picked up a bunch of crickets yesterday and got them munching on kale and apples. The link to the blog is the video but I think I know which one you mean. She has plenti of info there to. Thank you. I've been on video/reading overload for the past week on chameleon husbandry. I didn't even know the term husbandry until reading info here in the forums.

It's great to know you're taking charge with your chameleon and doing some proper research. (That's what I'm in the step of doing, too!)

I look forward to seeing the story of you and your daughter's chameleon unfold throughout the upcoming months.

AlphaChameleon said:

It's great to know you're taking charge with your chameleon and doing some proper research. (That's what I'm in the step of doing, too!)

I look forward to seeing the story of you and your daughter's chameleon unfold throughout the upcoming months.

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Every aspect of cham care that I have googled, this forum always comes up first or at the top of search. Great place to learn.

prskiller said:

I put the uvb lighting in yesterday after pics were taken. I'm still working on the plants. I watched the video a few days ago, really good info for sure. I picked up a bunch of crickets yesterday and got them munching on kale and apples. The link to the blog is the video but I think I know which one you mean. She has plenti of info there to. Thank you. I've been on video/reading overload for the past week on chameleon husbandry. I didn't even know the term husbandry until reading info here in the forums.

Click to expand...

https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/ here

Very nice and welcome! I think a Jacksons is my next type of Chameleon I'm getting. I'm sure the fact that triceratops was my favorite dinosaur...has NOTHING to do with it...